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Should I ship a Local Co-Op Platformer?
Local Co-Op + Platformer
Of 188 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Platformer in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 276 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×626 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 276 games are announced against 117 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $270 (exactly $270) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,994) |
| Top 5% | $297k (exactly $297,451) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 188 |
| Released games | 738 |
| Announced | 276 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 20% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Local Co-Op
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Local Co-Op, Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Co-op, Action
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Family Friendly, Colorful, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 90,452 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 85 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 276 games are announced against 117 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Local Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LootStrong odds
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + ModernFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + Board GameFair
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + MedievalFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
It Takes Two 2021 · $262M 
Cuphead 2017 · $119M 
Split Fiction 2025 · $118M 
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition 2020 · $42M 
Rivals of Aether 2017 · $30M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | It Takes Two | older | $39.99 | 218,492 95% | 6.6M | $262M (exactly $262,124,852) | Hazelight Studios |
| | Cuphead | older | $19.99 | 198,790 96% | 6.0M | $119M (exactly $119,214,363) | Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. |
| | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
| | Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition | older | $29.99 | 47,176 94% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,444,247) | Thunder Lotus |
| | Rivals of Aether | older | $29.99 | 33,284 96% | 999k | $30M (exactly $29,945,615) | Aether Studios |
 | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
 | Broforce | older | $14.99 | 49,512 96% | 1.5M | $22M (exactly $22,265,546) | Free Lives |
 | Ultimate Chicken Horse | older | $14.99 | 41,060 95% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,464,682) | Clever Endeavour Games |
 | Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove | older | $39.99 | 14,211 95% | 426k | $17M (exactly $17,048,937) | Yacht Club Games |
 | Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons | older | $14.99 | 33,765 94% | 1.0M | $15M (exactly $15,184,120) | Starbreeze Studios AB |
 | POPUCOM | $19.99 | 3,432 87% | 103k | $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) | Hypergryph | |
 | Onirism | $17.99 | 1,337 82% | 40k | $722k (exactly $721,579) | Crimson Tales | |
 | VHOLUME | $8.00 | 2,992 97% | 90k | $718k (exactly $718,080) | Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels… (Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin) | |
 | PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC | $29.99 | 694 90% | 21k | $624k (exactly $624,392) | NOW PRODUCTION Co., Ltd. | |
 | Iron Meat | $19.99 | 982 96% | 29k | $589k (exactly $588,905) | Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware | |
 | Primal Planet | $19.99 | 629 88% | 19k | $377k (exactly $377,211) | Seethingswarm | |
 | Twin Shot Deluxe | $9.99 | 1,167 95% | 35k | $350k (exactly $349,750) | Nitrome Limited | |
 | Nikoderiko: The Magical World — Director’s Cut | $29.99 | 345 82% | 10k | $310k (exactly $310,396) | VEA Games | |
 | WheelMates | $19.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $297k (exactly $297,451) | Firevolt |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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